I searched the website that Zev provided and did not turn up someone whom
I know arrived in Rio in 1865. <snip>

I've poked around a few Brazilian websites, and suggest that Edward and
other people looking for records of immigrants who landed in Rio de Janeiro
check the Brazilian National Archives (Arquivo Nacional). You can download
information (in Portuguese) about long-distance requests at http://www.arquivonacional.gov.br/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm

Rootsweb has a short Portuguese page on search resources for Brazilian
immigration, naturalization, and travel records: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~brawgw/immigration.html
However, the link to Jewish immigration ("Judaismo - Imigração para o Brasil")
no longer works, and the Boat Project ("Projeto Navios BrazilGenWeb") for
passenger lists is not yet in operation.

The Rootsweb page indicates that the main Brazilian ports of entry were Rio
de Janeiro, Santos, and Salvador. The port authorities that registered and
managed the immigrants were called Immigrant Hostels (Hospedarias de
Imigrantes). The page suggests that you check the regional or state archives
of the place you are searching (i.e., Rio) to see if there is an immigrants'
arrival or approval list.

While the National Archives has some information, unfortunately it doesn't
have a search engine for immigration records. However, it has several links
(in Portuguese) to information about genealogical records, protocols, and
pricing. A web site on Italian immigration to Brazil, http://www.imigrantesitalianos.com.br/Listas_de_Passageiros.html ,
is more hopeful than I about the National Archives' holdings on Rio (at least
for 1873 and later), and indicates that one can send an e-mail request to
consultas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx . This is worth a try.

The site that Zev Griner mentioned is a wonderful resource, but it covers
only the State of São Paulo, so it's no surprise that Mr. Luft's relative
wasn't listed. Most of the site is in Portuguese, but there's a rough English
translation of the introduction to the site if you click the "English
introduction" link toward the bottom of the web page.

Good luck - Boa sorte,
Lisa Grayson
Chicago, Illinois USA
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